The Association between Emergency Department Super-Utilizer Status and Willingness to Participate in Research

BACKGROUND: Research based on emergency departments (EDs) primarily focuses on medical conditions. There is limited research that investigates patients who willingly participate in research. This current study explored ED super-utilizers' (SUs') and nonsuper-utilizers' (NSUs') attitudes toward research. OBJECTIVE: The study assesses the willingness of SUs to participate in research. We hypothesize that the SU population will be as interested as nonutilizers in participating in medical research. METHODS: This prospective observational study stratified participants into SU and NSU cohorts based on their self-reported number of ED visits within 6 months. Surveys were captured in a secured database and analyzed using SAS 9.4. RESULTS: 7,481 completed questionnaires. SUs were more interested in participating in all types of research compared to NSUs. Both groups were most willing to participate in surveys. Neither group was particularly interested in studies that required medications. SUs were not more willing to participate in studies without payment than NSUs. Both groups trusted researchers at the same rates. CONCLUSION: Although rarely included in medical research, SUs were more willing to participate in nearly all types of research and expressed a similar trust in medical research when compared to nonsuper-utilizers.